October Meeting Minutes

Asylum Lake Policy and Management Council Meeting Minutes
Fetzer Center 2020
Western Michigan University
October, 14th, 2004

" The recorded comments below are expressions of council members
and are not approved policy until voted on. The statements were not
recorded verbatim and cannot be used as quotes. "

AGENDA :

1. Call to Order

Meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM.

2. Introduction

Members Present: Ken Dahlberg, Robert Nagler, Michael Nassaney, Steve Kohler, Duane Hampton, Mary Hosley, Tyler Bassett, Ann Paulson, Mark Hoffman, Frank Wolf, Tom Edmonds, Tim Holysz, Paul MacNellis, Charles Ide.
Guests Present: Chad Avery, Cari DeLong

3. Selection of Recording Secretary

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Cari DeLong, and I am a recent graduate of Western Michigan University. I have been hired by the Environmental Institute to help with their role in the preservation of Asylum Lake. My duties will include taking minutes at the management council meetings, maintaining the Asylum Lake Website, organizing and storing Asylum Lake files, communicating with council members, assisting the Research/Education Committee and Operations Committee, and scheduling meetings and facilities for the committees. I look forward to working with all of you on this project.
Please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions.
You can reach me at (269)387-2541 or email: cari9@hotmail.com

4. Discussion Items:

a) Meeting Schedule

Wednesday and Thursday of the second week of every month seems to be the only time for a meeting in which there are no conflicts.
Paul would like to meet once a month.
Framework requires twice a year.
Next meeting scheduled for Thurs 11th of November.
December meeting on Thurs. the 9th.
Meetings will start at 7:00. Would like to keep meeting length to an hour and a half.

b) MOU (Memo of Understanding)

The committee reviewed the WMU Environmental Institute Support for the Asylum Lake Management Council document.
Paul MacNellis and Charles Ide drafted the document.
Vice President Beam has approved it.
The Environmental Institute's role is as coordinator and facilitator. The Institute will also organize and store all Asylum Lake archives. The Institute will be a central location for committee references.
It was agreed that it is important to have good accessibility to Asylum Lake reports, historical documents, etc. It is important to have records and minutes of council meetings accessible to future committee members.
Any archives that members have can be given to the Environmental Institute and put on the Asylum Lake webpage.

c) Committees and Appointments

It was decided that the by-laws should determine the format for appointments.
There was a suggestion that alternate members should be allowed so that an organization is always represented.
However there was concern that if alternates were in place, they may not be up to speed on topics already discussed by the committee.
It was suggested that alternates should be encouraged to attend all meetings but not required.
Discussion on this topic will continue after revision of the By-Laws.

d) By-Laws

Ken Dahlberg has drafted the By-Laws of the Policy and Management Council of the Asylum Lake Preserve.
It was a general agreement that the draft is a good start.
Mark, Mary and Tom volunteered to look over the by-laws and revise the draft.
By-Law Revision Committee: 1. Mark Hoffman 2. Mary Hosley 3. Tom Edmonds
By-Law Revision Committee will try to disperse revisions to council members before the next meeting when they will be presenting their revisions.
There was a general agreement that a quorum for the council or any of its committees shall be a majority of the Council or committees - is a good inclusion in the By-Laws.
- Suggestions for the revision of the By-Laws included:
  1. Adding the use of an alternate for each organization.
  2. The committee should meet at least quarterly instead of twice a year. (However it was brought up that having a meeting twice a year was intended to keep the meetings flexible in case it is not necessary to meet that often.)
  3. The Environmental Institute should be responsible for publishing a public notice of the meetings.
  4. It should be the responsibility of the chair to notify the Environmental Institute of public notices that should be posted on the web.
  5. Other officer positions should be added to the By-Laws. It was suggested a Treasurer was needed.
It was a general agreement that any materials to be looked at or presented at meetings should be given to members in advance in order to increase meeting efficiency.

e) Council Officers

It was agreed that the format for appointing positions would have to be outlined in the By-Laws.
The Chair, Vice-Chair, and the Secretary are already included in the officers section of the By-Laws. It was decided that there may be other officers necessary for the council that should be included in the By-Laws. Since Paul anticipates having a budget for maintenance of the property, a Treasurer is needed for the council. The budget will need to be itemized and agreed upon between council members. The Treasurer, not the council, will be accountable for any money received by outside sources.
It was suggested that the council may want to consider choosing alternates from the applicants for the "At Large" positions. Paul mentioned that 15 people have applied for "At Large" positions. However, there was concern that opinion discrepancies between an unaffiliated alternate and the organization they are representing may cause problems.
The process for obtaining money was discussed. Paul explained that any money given to the council from the Kalamazoo Community Foundation will go to Western. The council will have to request this money through Vice President Beam, the Vice President of Finance for Western Michigan University. A fund and cost center can be set up to make the process more convenient. The council can then decide to allocate the money. However, it was stressed to Paul by the Kalamazoo Community Foundation that none of the money from this foundation is to be used for research or education. It is to be used for the development of the property.
Paul explained that there is $200,000 from the city and $1.5 million from the KCF in grants. There is $134,000 that has been generated from the $1.5 million that can be used without touching the principle. The KCF sends out quarterly reports and Paul will report to the council when he receives it. A representative from the KCF has agreed to talk to the council. This will be discussed further at a later meeting.

5. Other Business

Concern over lawsuits against the council was expressed. There was question as to whether or not the council is covered by the university in case of lawsuits. This matter will be looked into further and may have to be incorporated into the By-Laws.

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